Page 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE-FINLEY

My heart is still galloping. Not from the job offer.

Though yeah, that was major.

No, I’m vibrating because I can feel Koa’s intense stare focused on me.

I haven’t even turned around to face him fully yet, but the weight of his glare is like a sunburn between my shoulder blades.

And when I do finally look?

Yep. There he is. Stalking toward me like a crusader on a mission to completely change my religion.

Yes. Please.

He doesn't stop.

He doesn’t speak.

He just grabs my hand—gently but firmly—and starts walking.

“Uh—Koa?” I say, stumbling after him. “Where are we going?”

“Not another word,” he growls. “Not one fucking word until we’re inside, Red.”

Oh.

Oh shit.

Should my panties be wet right now?

It doesn’t really matter because they are wet. Like super fucking wet.

We pass by Tank, who raises an eyebrow and then immediately pulls out his phone like he’s texting someone at this exact moment as it unfolds.

I make a mental note to delete whatever meme that cheeky little shit is cooking up before it sees the light of day. Tank simply loves goading his brother. I get it. But not when I’m the butt of his joke.

Koa doesn’t slow.

Doesn’t explain.

Just leads me straight to his cabin, throws the door open, pulls me inside like he owns me, which is totally rude , and shuts the door with a thud that shakes the frame.

Then he turns.

His jaw is tight.

His velvet eyes, wild.

He’s still breathing hard.

“Lunch with Mitchell fucking Knight?” he spits, arms crossed over his chest. “Alone? In his perfectly pressed khakis and his flirty rich guy grin? Did he offer you a jet and a puppy too?”

I blink. Then blink again.

“Oh my God! Are you jealous that I had a professional lunch meeting with a hot billionaire?”

“Hot? Red, I swear to God, I will spank your arse if you call another man hot again.”

My mouth opens.

Spank?

Why does that make me even wetter?

I squeak.

“It was a meeting,” I try, ridiculously pleased with his caveman behavior because, let’s face it , I am not normal. Not where he is concerned.

“A meeting? You looked pretty cozy,” he scoffs. “He’s got a rep, you know. That dog is always looking for his next high-profile acquisition.”

I fold my arms too, mimicking his stance.

“First, yuck. Second, he offered me a job, Koa. A real one. Full-time. With an actual salary.”

I bite my lip, ignoring his meathead behavior.

Because this here? It matters to me.

I wait for his reaction to the possibility of my staying in Consequence permanently. Because, well, I just need to know.

He hesitates. “Wait. He did?”

“Yes,” I say. “But thank you for assuming I’m too dumb to tell whether a man’s hitting on me or offering me work.”

He opens his mouth, then closes it.

“Shit. That’s not—Red, I—fuck.”

He drags a hand through his hair and takes a step toward me.

“I’m being a jerk, aren’t I?”

“A little.”

“Fuck, Red, forgive me?”

“I don’t know. Why should I? Not like you’ve been around much lately. Even when you’re here, you’re not here.”

Shit. I had no intention of revealing all that. But since I do, I wait to see what he does next.

Koa sucks in a breath and his eyes soften as he gazes down at me.

“Fuck. You’re right. And I am so mad at myself right now. I’ve been off in la-la rugby land, prepping for our first match like a goddamn maniac, and meanwhile you’ve been here, working your ass off, getting us fans, holding this whole media circus together, and probably feeling unsure of us.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong. I don’t mean to be needy, Koa, and I’m not. But I just feel,” I pause, my voice low and shaking, eyes stinging. “I’ve been feeling invisible.”

He groans. “Shit, Red. I never meant to make you feel that way.”

“It’s not all on you. It’s my fault, too. This is too fast?—”

“No, it’s not. If you’ve been feeling invisible, it’s because I messed up. I just went and did what I always do. I retreated. But you deserve more, Red. I promise to be more.”

“I don’t want more. I just want you.” I confess.

Another beat of silence.

Then, softly, “I’m sorry, Red.”

And when I look up, he’s not smirking.

Not barking orders. Just standing there, open, raw.

“I love this sport. I love rugby,” he says. “But I love you more, Finley Adamo. So much more. And I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.”

My heart lurches.

I try not to melt.

I really try.

But then he adds, “Please don’t run off with a billionaire in linen pants. I can’t compete with that kind of tailoring.”

I snort. “I’m more the athletic shorts type, anyway.”

Koa raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Is that so?”

“Oh yeah,” I echo. “I don’t like billionaire businessmen.”

I step closer to him.

His mouth is twitching.

Like he’s fighting a smile.

“What do you like, then Miss Adamo?”

Closer. I raise my hands to his sweat streaked chest, and I moan at how hot he feels beneath my fingers.

“Big, broody rugby players with too many tattoos and an emotionally repressed love language.”

Then he grins, and my heart melts.

“Lucky me.”

He takes another step forward and runs the backs of his fingers along my jaw.

“I want you,” he murmurs. “All the time. With me. Here. Together. In this. Not just as some secret in the background. But officially. Out loud. All in.”

I arch a brow. “All in, huh? So, you’re saying I should take the job?”

“All in. Every goddamn inch. And yeah, Red, take the job.”

My gaze drops.

To his impossible to ignore hard cock tenting his shorts.

Thank fuck.

Koa has definitely got a few inches ready for negotiation.

“Not so fast,” I say, smirking. “If you think you’re getting to second base, you desperately need a shower.”

He grins. “I thought you liked me dirty?”

“I do, but last time we made love after practice I had turf stuck in some pretty unseemly places.”

“Ha! Okay, I’ll shower. But only if you come with me.”

My mouth goes dry.

“Sure, I mean, for the sake of water conservation, obviously.”

“Of course.” He hooks an arm around my waist and lifts me clean off the ground. “Eco-warriors, you and me.”

A few minutes later.

The water is running.

Hot. Clear. The perfect pressure.

Koa has got me pressed up against the cool tile wall, steam curling around us, his lips on my neck, hands everywhere.

“Goddamn, Red. You got me so hot. I swear, I’m not stopping until I feel you come all over me,” he growls against my throat.

“You better not stop,” I moan.

And when he sinks to his knees and says he’s going to “apologize properly” with his mouth?

Let’s just say, I start thinking this whole full-time job thing might come with very generous fringe benefits.

“So sweet,” he growls against my clit.

The words vibrate through me, wrecking my balance before he even starts to really devour me.

Then he’s licking.

Sucking.

Making out with my pussy like it’s the only thing that’s ever mattered. His mouth moves with greedy precision, lips wrapping around my clit while his tongue flicks and drags and presses in ways that short-circuit my brain.

All I can do is hold on— hands tangled in his hair, body trembling on the edge of something catastrophic —and feel.

He groans like he’s the one unraveling.

“Fuck, Red. You taste like heaven,” he mutters, right before two thick fingers press inside me.

My back arches as he pumps them deep, curling just right, just enough, just so, and then he lifts one of my legs and drapes it over his broad shoulder, opening me wider for his tongue.

Vulnerable. Exposed. Worshipped.

“Geezus. Fuck,” I pant, twisting in his grip.

“Do it, Red,” he rasps, breath hot against me. “Let go for me. Come on my tongue.”

And I do.

My whole body locks, then shatters.

“Koa!”

My orgasm tears through me in violent waves, making my vision white out.

But it’s not even over when he stands, lifts me like I weigh nothing, and spins me around to face the wall.

Then he enters me from behind with one hard, perfect thrust.

I gasp— half pleasure, half desperation —clawing at whatever I can as he fills me with the full, glorious weight of him.

His cock is so big, so thick, and curved just enough to wreck me from the inside out.

He doesn’t move at first, just holds me there, stretched around him, completely owned.

“Koa, please,” I whimper, needy, wrecked, trembling.

But he just growls in that deep, possessive way of his, hands gripping my hips tight.

Then he starts to move.

Slow, devastating thrusts that feel like a promise and a punishment. Each stroke hits deep, dragging moans out of me like he owns my voice too.

“You’re perfect, Red,” he rasps, voice wrecked. “My perfect dirty girl. Love you so fucking much.”

My heart lurches. “Koa.”

“That’s right,” he groans, grinding into me. “It’s me who makes you feel good. Only me. And I got you, Red. I’ll always take care of you.”

His hand slips around me, between my thighs, fingers circling my swollen clit.

“Now,” he growls, “give me what I want.”

And just like that, I shatter again.

My body obeys him without hesitation.

My pleasure peaks, loud and messy and utterly mindless, every nerve ending on fire.

And as I clench around him, Koa grunts behind me, hips jerking as he follows me over the edge.

His release is hot and thick, filling me up and dripping down my thighs as he buries himself as deep as he can, grinding his hips like he wants to live inside me.

And maybe he already does.

We rinse off quickly, and he’s so gentle with me afterward.

Scoops me up like I’m something precious, lays me down on the bed, and fetches a fluffy towel.

Pats me dry with care and quiet reverence, then joins me under the covers, pulling me into his chest.

His big hand cradles the back of my head. The other strokes along my bare thigh.

I shift to look up at him, my fingers tracing the curve of his jaw.

“I love you,” I whisper.

His lips twitch into one of those rare, real smiles—the kind that makes my stomach flip and my soul melt.

He leans in, kisses my temple, and whispers against my skin.

“ Aroha ahau ki a koe , Red.”

“Is that?”

“The language of my father’s people,” he whispers.

Somehow, I know what he said.

I love you.

And I’ve never heard anything more beautiful.